Photo Credit: Faith Michalena
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With a 4-2 win over One Knoxville SC, Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC both extended its club-record unbeaten run to 10 games and moved to the top of the USL League One table for the first time in club history.
“It’s a really, really proud moment,” Hailstorm FC head coach Éamon Zayed said. “To reach this summit halfway through year two is a testament to everybody involved with the club. But, and this is a massive but, our goal isn’t to just be top of the league for a few weeks or even at the end of the season, our goal is to win the USL League One championship.”
Northern Colorado also finished their season series with Knoxville with a pair of wins and a draw.
Hailstorm got on the board early when a long ball from defender Arthur Rogers found forward Trevor Amann one-on-one with keeper Peter Swinkels, who he chipped for his 12th goal of the season in the 8th minute.
“We knew there would be a lot of space in the fullback area, so credit to the coaches and my teammates for finding me there and letting me operate,” Rogers said.
Rogers got his second assist of the night in the 21st minute when his free kick found the right foot of Bruno Rendon, who scored his second goal of the season to give Northern Colorado a 2-0 lead.
Knoxville got one back in the 34th minute when midfielder Angelo Kelly-Rosales’ diving header found a James Thomas cross and snuck past Hailstorm keeper Lalo Delgado to make the score 2-1, where it stayed until halftime.
Shortly after halftime the Rogers-to-Rendon connection struck again on a second free kick for Rogers’ third assist of the game and Rendon’s second goal coming in the 50th minute to give Hailstorm a 3-1 lead.
“Two fantastic deliveries by Arthur and Bruno’s always dangerous in the box,” Zayed said.
However, Kelly-Rosales answered with a brace of his own four minutes later, dribbling from the top of the box and firing a potshot past Delgado to make it 3-2.
Hailstorm put the game away in the 90th minute when Rendon turned from scorer to provider, finding Billy King on a counterattack who unleashed a long shot from the top of the box past Swinkels for his fifth goal of the season and giving Northern Colorado a 4-2 lead.
“I feel incredible,” Rendon said. “Just very excited with the team and how we played, it’s motivation to keep working hard and getting better.”
Hailstorm FC will be back in action looking to extend their unbeaten run to 11 and maintain their place on top of the table when Union Omaha comes to Future Legends Field on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
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The home of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, 118-acre Future Legends Complex, will feature 6,500-seat TicketSmarter Stadium, 2,500-seat Future Legends Field, multiple baseball diamonds, multi-purpose fields, an indoor sports arena, lodging, and retail; and will host guests for major sports leagues, tournaments, events and more.
More information is available at HailstormFC.com and FutureLegendsComplex.com.